Surgical needle



Dec. 18, 192s.- 1,695,887

I C. T. DAVIS.

sunexcm Nnspns Filed April 30, 1927 @igd 6 I VENTOR I wounding of the tissues is Patented Dec. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES CHARLES T. DAV IS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DAVIS & GEOK, ING., OF

i 1,695,887 PATENT Zorn-CE.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

suneronr NEEDLE.

Application filedApril '30, 1927. Serial No. 187,839.

This invention is an improvement in needles, and more particularly in those designed for work in relatively resistant tissues.

Needles of rounded form, that is 0t oval or circular cross seetionarepreterable for many reasons. They are easily manufactured, are stronger for the amount of material used, and pass through the material being sewn with a minimum of Needles of this character arealso advantageous in surgical work, because they are easily rendered aseptic, and pass through the tissues with a minimum of injury. 7

Such needles are formed from a rod or wire of: suitable cross sectional size and shape, as for instance circular or oval, one end being tapered to a point, and the needle is provided with means for engagement by a thread, such as an eye, ora socket.

With needles constructed as above described, the entrance opening is very small,

because of the fineness of the point. Hence,

the entrance opening must be spread to enable the passage of the needle, and it is the friction due to the necessary spreading which makes diiiicult the entrance of the needle. Needles of this character will not penetrate heavy fabrics, leather, or dense tissues, such as the skin.

easy penetration without sacrifice of strength, needles triangular in cross section at the point have been used, but the piercing end of such needles must be relatively wide to obtain sutlicient strength, so that increased friction results from the necessity of spreading the opening as the needle passes through, and a relatively great produced by the use of such needles for surgical purposes.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is the provision of a needle of the preferred cross section, that is of rounded form and without angles, with .a piercing end of maximum strength, and of a character such that: it will not only penetrate the material to be sewn easily, but will pass through the same with a minimum of drag and friction, and with little liability to breakage of the point. v

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in the needle and the method of making the same, it being understood that various changes in the form,

"o avoid this difficulty, that is to obtain proportion, size and minor details of construction of the needle withinthe scopeof the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the complete needle.

Fig. i is a partial plan view of an alternate construction.

'Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the complete needle shown in Figures 4 and 5.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1,2 and 3, the improved needle, which is made from a rod or wire of suitable cross sectional size, andot suitable material, consists of a body 1 having a cross sectional shape freefrom corners, that is rounded, a thread engaging means '2, in the present lnstance a socket, although it is obvious that aneye might be provided, and

a piercing or cutting end or point 3.

'The cutting end is formed by 'beveling the end-of the needle as shown in Fig.2, so

'as to providea plane at which intersects the ing is not necessarily a plane, but may be a concave surtace m onedimension, as shown.

in Fig. 5. In this construction'the needle 4 has the point 5 formed by grinding away the material at one side, and the ground surface is concave in its long dimension as shown, the said long dimension being in the plane of the needle axis. I

In this embodiment, the needle is shown as formed with an eye 6 for receiving the thread, and it is ovalin cross section as shown in Fig. 4. In both instances however, the body of the needle is of a rounded contour free from edges and angles. The provision of a concave surface, the concavity having its longdimension in the plane of the needle axis provides for a somewhat plan view of a needle more-acute point. This form is-part-icularly adaptable for some purposes.

The cutting end of the needle is formed by a part of the perimeter of the, round gradually widened to a'degree suflicient to permit the entrance of the needle body with a minimum of stretching and drag.

No part of the cut-ting end extends beyond the circumference or perimeter of the needle body, and the opening eventually formed for the passage of the body is no larger than necessary to enable tl1e ,passage. This is of particular advantage in needles used for surgical purposes, since it provides for a minimum of wounding of the tissues. The long axis of the ground surfaceis in a common plane with theaxis of the needle, which provides fora cutting end wherein the two halves of the. plane are symmetrical, so that the cutting or spreading action at each side of the, ground surface, that at each side of the, cuttingedge is the same.

Any suitable omeans; may. be. provided for engagement by the thread, for. instance an eye, as shown in 3, or a-socket as shown in Fig. 1. "The socket is designed to receive the endof the thread andto be closed thereover, with the side edges of the split or slit in the socket .in contact throughout.

the usual construction, wherein .the aim has been to producearfine or attenuated cutting point tapering in .alldirections from the body. 'Z'The present method of grinding .axis of the surface in v a common the. axis of. the needle. The improved needle is a departure from fabrics,leather, andndense'tissues like the skin and cervix in surgical work, the iml proved needle is especially eflicient as regards the piercing end, and with a mlnnnum sacrifice of "strength.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A surgical needle formed from a rounded rod. of homogeneous material, and of substantially uniform cross section, and provided with a, piercing end constituted by ,theedgeof a cutaway surface of oval contourintersecting the needle at an acute angle to. the axis. thereof. 4

,2. A surgical needle formed {from a rounded rod of homogeneous materialand ofsubstantially uniform cross section, and provided with a piercing end constituted by the edge of. a-cutaway surface ofioval contour intersecting the needle at. an acute angle .to the axis thereof,.and .withethellong axis of the surface in a common, plane with the axis of the needle.

3. .The method of pointing solid. rounded surgical. needles of.homogeneous material and of substantially uniform cross section, which consists in removing the material of theneedle atone end to provide a surface of oval outline'intersecting the axisof the needleat an acuteangleand with theflong plane with Signed at Dannemora, .in the county .of Clinton and State of New York this twenty- .second dayof AprihrLD.v 1927. 7

CHARLES TLDAvIs; 

